Khmer Evening News

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Illegal Evictions a Continued Threat: Experts

Forced evictions are seriously impacting the daily lives of
many Cambodians, requiring an "advanced solution" as displacement
persists, a rights official said Thursday.

"Development should be a benefit for people, but if it
makes thousands of people lose their interests, how can we call it
development?" said Chan Saveth, of the rights group Adhoc, as a guest on
"Hello VOA."

Forced evictions of residents in the Sambok Chab
neighborhood of Phnom Penh
and a community living along Monivong
Boulevard highlighted the problem, where people
were removed to distant locales outside the city, far from work, school and
services.

Residents of the Boeung Kak lake area, the city's latest
development project, are continuing to protest their impending eviction, saying
an $8,000 buyout option from the government is too low.

Sek Sovanna, a lawyer from the Community Legal
Education Center,
said the $79 million lease the city has made with Shukaku, Inc., to develop the
area was illegal.